wolfe



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. R. WOLFE.

. STREET CLEANING MACHINE.

No. 448,900. I Patented Mar. 24, 1891.

2 SheetsSheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. R. WOLFE.

STREET CLEANING MACHINE.

Patented Mar. 24, 1891.

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UNITED TATES ATENT FFICEQ HARVEY R. \VOLFE, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO- THE VOLFE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

STREET-CLEANING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,900, dated March 24, 1891,

Application filed June 27, 1890. Serial No. 356,946. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY R. WOLFE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of to this specification.

My invention relates to machines for cleaning streets, in which rotary fans are employed to create a powerful suction of air, and thus draw up the dirt and dust; and it consists in I 5 a new and improved construction and arrangement of parts, which will be here nafter more particularly pointed out and claimed.

In machines for the cleaning of streets as hitherto constructed brooms or brushes of one kind or another have been used, and the sweeping of these brushes necessarily raised a large amount of dust. It has been endeavored to overcome this trouble by means of exhaust-fans to draw in the dust and deposit it in a receptacle provided for that purpose; but even these suction-pipes are unable to ather up all the dust raised by the brooms.

It is the object of my invent on to overcome this difficulty, and to do this I dispense with brooms or brushes altogether aud com bine with a series of suction-pipes a series of scrapers in advance thereof, so that all the dirt and dust may be removed from the street in one operation without the raising of dust.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my street-clean ng machine; Fig. 2, a top plan view; Fig. 3, a side elevation, partly in section, of one of the series of scrapers; Fig. 4, a top plan view of same. 1 1g. 5 1s a longitudinal section of the nozzle of a suction-pipe, showing the double-thread ed screw; Fig. 6, an end View of same.

A A is the main sill of the machine, supported on the traction-wheels B B and G C. D is a boiler with smoke-stack E, and steam from this boiler operates a small steam-engine F. This engine, by means of pinion G and gear-wheel H on the axle, operates the traction-wheel B, and inthis way the machine is moved by steam-power. Anothensteamengine I operates the wheel h, which in turn,

by the belt a, pulley I), and shaft 0, operates the fans within the fan-cases L L at a high rate of speed, so as to create a powerful suction of .air. Suction-pipes M M connect these exhaust-fans with the suction-drum N, a sheet-iron drum extending across the machine from side to side at the rear. Opening into this drum N are a series of pipes orrubber hose d (I, about four or five inches apart, extending the whole length of the drum and of suitable length to drag on the street. The drag ends of these pipes are shod with iron nozzles, constructed as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. dis the hose, and c the iron nozzle. At each end of the nozzle are cross-bars ff, which at the center form journal-bearings for the double-threaded screw 9. This screw will revolve rapidly under the strong suction created by the fans, and the end of the hose, 7o owing to this motion, will therefore always be kept clean. The suction-pipes (Z d can be raised or lowered by the chain h and leverj, as shown in Fig. 1. At each end of and opening into the drum N are the pipes 7t, longer 7; than the pipes (Z and intended to reach to the gutter wherever the pipes d are not long enough. These two pipes are held in position by the chains 1 I, attached to the sillAA.

lhe suction created by the fans carries the So dirt and dust by direct suction through the suction-pipes d d and pipes M M, through the fans L L and exhaust-pipes O 0, into the dirt-chest P, which is provided with an exhaust outlet or stack Q. Then the dirtchest becomes full, the contents may be removed through the tra'p-door m.

At the forward end of the machine are arranged a series of endless-chain scrapers R R R, each running in its own spout T. Each 9c endless-chain scraper as a Whole is made up ofa continuous series of scrapers S S, Fig. 3, made up of a shaft n and four radiate plates 0 0, arranged thereon so as to turn with the shaft, which is pivoted in the links of the 9 5 chain 19 p, and the sides of these radiate scrapers are inclosed in the case r 1". Between each radiate scraper is a flat steel spring it, pivoted btween the links and catching over the topmost scraping-plate. By this spring the I00 scraping-wheel is held stationary until an obstruction is met with, when the spring will give way and allow the radiate scraper to revolve a quarter of a revolution, where it is again held by the spring until another obstruction is met with, when the obstruction will be passed in the same manner. These endless-chain scrapers are arranged close together across the entire front of the machine, and each chain runs on the sprocket-wheels a, b, and c, which are arranged on shafts d, c, and f, extending across the machine, supported and journaled in the standards g, 7t, and 7a. The entire series of scrapers is operated by the sprocket-wheel Z on the shaft (1', sprocket-chain m, and sprocket-wheel n on the shaft 19 of the wheel K, which is operated by the steam-engine I, as shown in the drawings. These scrapers deliver into the mudchest U, extending longitudinally through which is the screw conveyer A. An endlessbelt conveyer B, consisting of a series of shallow buckets or scoops arranged thereon, runs over the pulleys r s. The pulleys is keyed to the shaft of the screw conveyer A, and as the bucket-conveyer transfers the mud to the mud-chute (J and dirt-chest P the screw conveyer continually delivers the mud collected by the scrapers to the bucket-conveyer. The shaft of the pulley '2" extends across the machine and is operated by the sprocket-wheels t and r and chain a, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

As it is not intendedto use the endlessehain scrapers except for stifi mud, the spouts T,in which the chains are carried, are hinged to the forward part of the frame at w, and by means of the lever M and connectingarms, as shown in Fig. 1, the spouts, and with them the scrapers, can be raised, so as not to operate. These endless chains, it may be said, are arranged to be self-adjusting and to follow the irregular surface of the ground.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 15-

1. In a street-cleaning machine, the combination, with a series of suction-tubes extending along the surface of the street, of exhaustfans and dirt-receptacle, with suction-pipes connecting the same, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a street-cleaning machine, the combination, with dirt-receptacle, exhaust-fans, and exhaust-pipes,in connection with each other, of suction-pipes, dirt-d rum, and suction-tubes dragging on the ground and extending in series the entire wid th of the machine, the whole arranged so that the dirt will be drawn up and deposited in the receptacle by the direct action of the inrushing current of air, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a street-cleaning machine, a series of scrapers to loosen and scrape up the still": dirt, in combination with in ud-chest, screw conveyor therein, bucket-conveyor, and dirt-receptacle, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a street-cleaning machine, a series of endless chain scrapers running separately from each other, and mud-chest to receive the dirt, arranged substantially as shown and described.

5. In a street-cleaning machine, two or more radiate plates arranged on ashaft or pin pivoted within the links of an endless chain and forming a scraping-wheel, and spring to hold said wheel rigid until an obstruction is met, said wheels arranged in series on an endless chain to form endless-chain scrapers, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a street-cleaning machine, revolving screws pivoted longitudinally within the drag ends of the suction-tubes,so as to revolve under the action of the inrushing air, and thus keep the nozzles of the snetiontubes free from dirt, substantially as shown and described.

HARVEY It. IVOLFE.

IVitnesses:

GEO. E. R001, R. M. KELLY. 

